


A Throw-Away Toon

by fairyfires



Category: Epic Mickey, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: (it isn't Aqua or Os tho don't worry), Character Death, Crossover, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, I'll take any excuse at all to put this little bastard in Kingdom Hearts ok, I've been writing and editing this in chunks, Mild Language, Platonic Relationships, Realm of Darkness (Kingdom Hearts), Suicidal Thoughts, i pick on terra a lot but its out of love i promise, set after Birth by Sleep but otherwise unspecified, so i'll come back in a bit and clean it up again altogether, we need more gen-fics for kh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-29 00:49:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13915830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairyfires/pseuds/fairyfires
Summary: “I promised you - and myself - that we would leave together, Oswald. We’re going to make it home; you know that. It’s gonna be o--”“No, I won’t,” he cut in.- - - - -Aqua stumbled across Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in the Realm of Darkness entirely by chance. Both struggling to survive, they decide to team up in hopes of escaping; but along the way, Oswald starts to lose hope. He isn't concerned with finding his way out of the dark anymore.After all, it's hard to stay motivated when there's nothing to go back to.





	A Throw-Away Toon

**Author's Note:**

> Before we get started - please, please, PLEASE heed the warnings in the tags!! Even if the darker parts are fairly brief, they're still present, and I don't want anyone stumbling in unprepared.
> 
> Now, a bit of background: this is a scrapped idea from an upcoming fic I'm working on, starring Oswald in the Kingdom Hearts 'verse! I've decided against him meeting Aqua in the final outline, but I loved their interactions too much to just throw all of this out. 
> 
> Oswald was pulled from his world in Epic Mickey. His world isn't connected to the worlds of the KH universe, which allows some major plot points of Epic Mickey to go unchanged (Yen Sid creating the world for forgotten toons, the Thinner Disaster, Oswald losing his heart without becoming a Nobody or a Heartless).
> 
> That's all you need to know for this story - everything else will be in the upcoming fic. Until then, enjoy!

Aqua woke with a start.   
  
She had once hated waking to the sharp feeling of panic in her chest, as if something was just about to pounce on her from behind... but as time passed, it had become the norm.   
  
Having been in the Realm of Darkness for so long, she had learned how to survive - even if just barely so. She trained herself to rest in 30-minute intervals to avoid being ambushed in her sleep. She knew when to fight, and when she needed to run. She knew that unless she’d been backed into an inescapable corner, unless she was truly hurt, she should avoid draining her magic reserves during battles. She knew that if she wasn’t constantly alert, constantly looking over her shoulder, something would get the jump on her, and it could be the last mistake she ever lived to make.

  
It was exhausting, spreading herself so thin, but as long as it kept her alive - as long as it gave her the chance to see Ven and Terra again, even just one last time - it was worth it.   
  
Which was precisely why Aqua was so alarmed when she didn’t immediately want to lay back down and close her tired eyes. She wasn’t meant to let herself sleep long enough to feel well-rested.

  
Quickly, she sat up, ignoring the head rush it left her with in favor of scanning the area. The familiar darkness still surrounded her on all sides, shifting like living quicksand out of the corner of her eye. Luckily for her, nothing had decided to move any closer. Aqua was surrounded on all sides by murky shadows that hadn't yet formed eyes or claws, steep cliff sides and jagged rocks - and a black-and-blue figure crouching on the ground a few yards to her right, eerily still against the coiling shadows in the distance.

  
“Oswald,” she started, brushing a hand through her hair, “how long was I asleep...? Why didn't you wake me?” He gave nothing but the tiniest twitch of an ear to show that he had heard. Aqua pulled herself onto her feet, checking over her shoulder for any lurking enemies. Nothing in sight. They were safe for the moment, but that was subject to change. Her eyes drifted back to Oswald.   
  
She had found him some time ago, wandering the Realm of Darkness just as aimlessly as Aqua herself. He was battered and bruised, panic still fresh in his eyes - to Aqua, it only registered as a sign that he hadn’t been trapped as long as she had been. The moment he had heard her footsteps, he’d raised his Keyblade to attack. Aqua was just a little quicker to the draw, and deflected the haphazard cast of Firaga away from them both before it could do any damage. When she didn't return the attack, he had paused; hesitant. Hopeful. Those few seconds were all Aqua needed to assure him that she wasn't an enemy. It didn't take them long to form a truce, neither knowing when they'd next run into a friendly face, and they'd been working as a team ever since.   
  
Now, Oswald was sitting with his arms folded on his knees, head down, and ears drooping towards his feet. Aqua was hesitant to venture much closer. He could be awake, yes; but on the off-chance that he was asleep, startling him could end in disaster. A Keyblade was never out of reach, and friendship didn’t always override survival instincts and gut reactions in this terrible place. “Oswald?” she repeated softly.   
  
The rabbit lifted his head, turning to peer up at Aqua with a nearly absent expression. The usual energy he exuded was nowhere to be found. “Yeah?” His voice was rough - perhaps he’d drifted off and forgotten to wake her for her shift. Something just wasn’t sitting right with her, though...   
  
“We should get moving.” It came as more of a suggestion than Aqua had meant it to be. They didn't have a choice; they moved, or they died.   
  
Oswald got to his feet with a lazy stretch, ears flopping forward. Aqua watched him carefully as he caught up. He wasn’t the best at hiding his emotions; but oftentimes, they ran so close together that she could have a hard time distinguishing them until they were center-stage. Maybe he was exhausted after a too-short nap. Then again, maybe something was wrong and he couldn't quite conceal it. Either could be dangerous in the Realm of Darkness, but for the time being, Aqua didn’t want to push him. Oswald wasn’t exactly the type to sit down and discuss his feelings over lunch.   
  
“What? Somethin’ on my face?” Oswald demanded, stopping next to Aqua with his arms crossed and foot tapping.   
  
“Yes. You’re pouting,” she said plainly.   
  
Oswald broke into a grin as he started walking, waving her off over his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, if you say so. Let’s get goin’. The sooner the better!” Despite herself, Aqua found a smile on her face. If there was one thing that the Darkness hadn’t taken from Oswald, it was his ability to bounce back.   
  
If Aqua had suspected anything, she forgot about it quickly.   
  


  
Aqua lunged forward with a cry, Keyblade slicing through another Neoshadow. Smoke billowed out around the blade; and before she could so much as breathe, another Heartless had taken its place.   
  
Every inch of the Realm of Darkness was a minefield of Heartless. Some were roaming in plain sight, eager to pick a fight; others hid within the shadows, lying in wait for someone to step too close. They’d stumbled upon a veritable nest of slumbering Neoshadows, and try as they might, they just couldn’t outrun them. They had no choice but to fight, and the odds were far from stacked in their favor. Luckily, Aqua had never cared much for chance.   
  
Aqua dispatched the next pair of Heartless with a weak Thunder attack, her heart pounding in her ears and breathing hard. As risky as it was, she turned to look for Oswald. He hadn’t been using a Keyblade nearly as long as Aqua; and pitted against such unpredictable enemies, she worried that he would be overwhelmed. She could risk a few scrapes to be sure he was safe.   
  
Oswald was between two Neoshadows, the silver and blue teeth of Wasteland’s Key gleaming as he darted around them effortlessly. Even if he was less experienced than Aqua, Oswald had the agility and passion to make up for it. Just before she could watch him land a deadly downwards strike on one of the Neoshadows, another Heartless rushed her. Aqua turned her attention back to the battle with a shout, blocking the outstretched claws of one of the monsters before it could swipe at her. It snarled its rage - or possibly hunger. She wouldn’t allow it close enough to figure out which.   
  
Bracing her hand on the back of her Keyblade, she threw her weight against it; it was just enough to unbalance the Neoshadow, and she gave it no time to recover before she was swinging. Battle was synonymous with survival; and even if started to feel like going through the motions, Aqua was careful that she didn’t allow herself to neglect strategy. A single, careless slip-up could end in a fatal disaster. Healing magic took energy that neither of them could usually spare. 

 

The unwelcome idea of losing Oswald here was forever in the back of her mind, haunting her like a cryptic threat. Without a friend to support her, she wasn’t sure she would have been able to push on as long as she had. The thought pushed her to fight with more ferocity than any of the Heartless she had ever vanquished.   
  
They were down to the last of the Neoshadows when they made a mistake.   
  
Battling one Heartless each, they hadn’t seen a third slip into the ground in their haste to end the fight - and in the murkiness of the Middle Zone, it was impossible to see it slithering towards them. Neoshadows weren’t highly intelligent by any means, but they were smart enough to plan and execute attacks; something this one had used to its full advantage. They didn’t recognize the shift of the shadows under their feet until it struck Oswald from behind.   
  
Oswald’s cry of surprise struck Aqua like a shockwave. Heedless of how it might cost her, she tossed a cast of Blizzaga into the Neoshadow she was facing before she spun sharply on her heel, bracing herself against every horrible outcome she could imagine. 

 

Oswald was on the ground, teeth grit in something between a grimace and a snarl as he fought off the Heartless who had struck him from below. It had only half-formed from a murky puddle on the ground, clinging stubbornly to Oswald’s leg as it rose inch by inch from the darkness, looming over him imposingly. It wasn’t just holding onto him for the sake of injury, however - its vicious claws were keeping him ensnared. Behind him, the other Neoshadow was rearing up for an attack.   
  
They were trying to ambush him.   
  
Protective fury rushed through her veins like a wildfire, brutal and all-consuming in its intensity. Aqua was well aware of the stakes here. If the Neoshadow struck when he was preoccupied, Oswald could vanish forever, and no amount of hoping could bring him back. There was no recovering what vanished beyond this purgatory.   
  
Without a thought, Aqua charged, Keyblade raised and every bit of strength she possessed following the unsparing swing. The Heartless was just shy of Oswald’s head when the teeth of her weapon landed at the center of its chest, throwing it into the air before Aqua even registered its weight. The Neoshadow was down in one hit; and by the time she had turned to help him, Oswald had defeated the other.   
  
Now, her only concern was the blood splattered against the ground by Oswald’s leg.   
  
Oswald was stock-still, eyes wide and chest heaving in an effort to catch his breath. His Keyblade remained clutched tightly in his hand as blood seeped through the leg of his pants like ink dispersing in still water. 

 

Another icy hollow formed in the pit of Aqua’s stomach, Master’s Defender vanishing from her grasp as she rushed to his side. “Oswald!” Her voice snapped him out of his trance, light returning to his eyes as he let his own Keyblade fade. Oswald took a deep breath as he lurched forward, using the momentum to bring himself back onto his feet - and he favored his right leg immediately, eyes fixed on the wound.

  
There were four thin, deep gashes across his leg, spanning from just above his knee to the side of his heel. The adrenaline Aqua had gathered from the battle was transforming itself all too quickly into crushing anxiety.  _ What if he loses too much blood? What if his leg is permanently damaged? What if he catches an infection from this? What if the Heartless can smell the blood? What do I do if he - _   
  
“I-I’m fine - it’s fine, it… looks worse than it probably is,” he insisted, setting his left foot back on the ground slowly. He couldn’t hide his wince when he straightened his posture, shoulders back and chin up. “It’ll heal in no time. He didn’t call me his ‘Lucky Rabbit’ for nothin’.” It seemed to take every ounce of his willpower to keep the smile on his face; his eyes were still a little out of focus.   
  
Nausea welled up in her gut. Aqua took a deep breath to steel herself best she could, kneeling in front of him. She would have liked to have appeared calmer for Oswald’s sake; but her all-encompassing fear of losing another friend was winning out over reason. “Sit down and I’ll heal you.” Aqua was glad her voice held steadier than her hands.   
  
Oswald shuffled back half a step, keeping his left leg bent at the knee, his heel above the ground. “No, no, it’s fine - I’m fine, see?” He wiggled his foot for emphasis, but Aqua caught how his muscles jumped in pain. “We gotta get going, we’ve spent too much time sitting around already-”   
  
“ _ Oswald _ ,” she interrupted. Aqua felt a twinge of guilt as Oswald flinched, his ears drooping. She hated raising her voice to any degree, but she had no choice if she wanted to help him. He was stubborn even at the best of times. “I know you’re strong enough to keep walking, but - I’d feel a lot better if I knew you weren’t in pain.” 

 

Oswald’s nose twitched, a nervous tic she’d picked up on shortly after they met. Whatever he was about to tell her, he probably didn’t even believe himself. “Aqua, ya really don’t need to waste your strength like that. I’m fine, I can keep up! If it hurts too bad, then I’ll stop and rest for a little; but it doesn’t really hurt right now, honest.” He still wasn’t fully meeting her eyes.   
  
Aqua sighed under her breath, her worry beginning to manifest as irritation. Why wouldn’t he just let her do this for him?   
  
“Os, look--”   
  
It was there for no more than a second - just a fraction of a moment - but she didn’t miss the way his face scrunched in agony entirely unrelated to the injury.   
  
“I said I’m  _ fine _ , Aqua!”   
  
The Keyblade Master recoiled, clutching her hand to her chest as if stricken. Hot-headed as the rabbit was, he had never shouted at Aqua before. She stared in wide-eyed shock at him, thoughts running in a dozen directions at once, while he stared back with the same surprise. What had happened that caused him to act like this? Why was he so adamant about carrying on this way?   
  
_ What else was hurting him...? _   
  
However hard he tried to hide it, the frantic look of guilt and fear that passed through his eyes as she stood was unmistakable. Just as before, it was gone the moment she blinked, and in its place a mask of steady determination. Aqua found herself with more questions than ever before, and no words within reach to ask them.   
  
“I can’t let you throw all your magic away on a few dumb little scratches when we could get into a real fight later,” Oswald murmured. “You’re better off keeping your healing spells for yourself. There are still people up there that need you, Aqua.” 

 

Aqua felt a crack opening in her heart. He was partially right; there were people who needed her. People she had promised to return to. Terra, Ventus - Sora, Kairi, Riku, the worlds that needed protecting and saving, the lights fighting against the darkness… she needed so desperately to be there with them that she sometimes felt as if she were drowning, struggling to reach the surface to get air back into her lungs.   
  
But even so, she felt her heart breaking at the way Oswald had chosen to remind her.   
  
He spoke as if there was nothing for him to return to.   
  
“You’re my friend, too,” Aqua replied softly, reaching an open hand to him. “and I promised myself that I would do everything in my power to keep  _ all  _ of my friends safe.”   
  
He drew his shoulders up and started walking, refusing to so much as look Aqua’s way. He didn’t let the limp in his step slow him.   
  
For the first time since they had started traveling together, Aqua found herself worried for his past as well as his future.   
  


  
“What was it like, where you came from?”   
  
Aqua paused for a moment; just long enough that Oswald ended up in the lead. For as long as they had known one another, Aqua had assumed that they were both leaving the past behind them. It was an unspoken rule. It was easier, it was less painful - it took less of a toll on their ability to keep their heads up and their wits about them. She supposed that was the problem with anything left unspoken, however. Maybe she had made the rule for herself, and Oswald had never gotten the memo.   
  
“Where’s this coming from?” Her tone was amused, even as she set mental walls around her memories of those last moments she had spent in the Keyblade Graveyard. The last moments she’d spent in the light. 

 

They could only discuss the Realm of Darkness and the shadows that haunted it for so long - she knew this. Maybe he was looking for inspiration to keep moving; maybe he was simply looking for a brighter topic for their conversations than when the next enemy might strike, when they’d make the next wrong turn.   
  
They were on thin ice, either way.   
  
There was a very narrow line separating the determination to return to their respective worlds, and the homesickness that told them they would never make it. If they started to think of Home as a place that they would never see again, they would be trapped forever.   
  
Oswald snorted. “What? I’m curious. And a little tired of walkin’, but that probably has nothing to do with it.”   
  
Aqua quirked an eyebrow, shooting him a glance from the corner of her eye as he fell in step with her once again. She stole a glance to his left leg - she had managed to heal him during a short break between treks, and a faint, rusty-red stain that they hadn’t been able to wash out was all that was left of the ordeal. “Curiosity killed the cat.”   
  
“But satisfaction brought him back. And it’s _ rabbit _ , not cat. You ever seen a cat before, Aqua?” He teased, crossing his arms.   
  
She hummed in consideration. “Well, yes. You look a lot like one of the cats from my world.” He paused at this, eyes round as he stared up at her in something between shock and mistrust.   
  
“What? Seriously?”   
  
Aqua just barely kept the smirk off of her face, choosing instead to nod. “Oh, of course,” she answered sagely, “they all had long ears and feet. They were much cuter than you, though.”   
  
“ _ Hey! _ ” He squawked, jumping up to swipe at her arm. Aqua giggled, reaching down to pat his head as Oswald puffed out his chest with a played-up scowl. She couldn’t describe how grateful she was to have a friend in this lonely place; especially one as resilient as him.   
  
They walked in a peaceable silence, Oswald with a little more spring in his step, and Aqua lost in her thoughts. What could she say before she crossed the line between nostalgia and heartbreak? She would like to speak of her friends with him - she could imagine how much Ven would love his sense of humor, and how well he’d get along with Terra - but fond memories went hand in hand with awful truths by now. Aqua couldn’t be sure when she would see them again. 

 

_ If  _ she would see them again. That thought in particular always burned a hole in her heart.   
  
“There isn’t much to say about the world I came from,” Aqua said at last. Oswald’s ears lifted as he turned his full attention to her, a serious hush falling between them as his steps slowed. She chose her words carefully; Aqua only had so many memories that didn’t involve her friends. They had always been her home - not the world itself.   
  
“It was called the Land of Departure. Most of the world itself wasn’t really accessible. It was mostly steep mountains, with dense forests and bodies of water, and there weren’t many paths leading away from home. It was beautiful, though; the grass was always tall and green, and there were waterfalls on some of the mountains. I could see one of the taller ones from my bedroom window.” Ven used to talk about climbing it and swimming at the top. Terra was always looking for a way to get him up there safely when he had some free time to spare. She wasn’t sure that he’d ever found a suitable way to the peak. Even if he had, they’d run out of time before he could share it with Ventus.   
  
Aqua took a deep breath as she pushed the thought away. The ache in her heart was a little more stubborn.   
  
“The weather was never anything more than mild, and the sky was always clear. I loved to watch the sun rise in the morning, but Terra and Ven liked stargazing more. I did both every day. Sometimes Terra would be there for the sunrises, but all of us were there on the nights of meteor showers no matter what.” Even if she missed looking up at something other than swirling darkness, she kept a smile on her face. She’d stargaze with them again someday. Maybe it wouldn’t be soon - maybe it wouldn’t happen for years and years… but she had hope. “The stars were always so bright… sometimes we would see other worlds out there, too. They would shine even brighter. We liked to guess what those worlds were like, or how far away they were.”   
  
“Were there constellations?” Oswald asked. When Aqua fixed him with a dumbfounded stare, he clarified easily, “Y’know, the pictures in the stars. Like the Little Dipper, Aquila, Leo…?”   
  
Aqua shook her head. “No - well, none by those names, anyway. We liked to make up our own. Ven always found animals, and I liked to find plants or magical creatures. Terra wasn’t the best at it. He would point out wavy lines and say they were dragons or snakes. Sometimes worms.”   
  
“Real artistic type, huh?” Oswald noted, not missing a beat.   
  
A laugh bubbled out of Aqua. As much as she loved Terra, he wasn’t exactly the most imaginative of the trio. “Not particularly so,” she said.   
  
A thoughtful look crossed Oswald’s face, and he looked skywards briefly. Aqua nearly did the same. She couldn’t help but to wonder what Oswald might see in the stars of her home world; what stories he would make for them.   
  
“I wonder if any of them are there,” he mused, seemingly to himself.   
  
Aqua wracked her brain for memories of the brighter stars - the ones that were always present - but it seemed that all of them had faded with time. As much as she hated to admit it, many of her memories had. Sometimes she forgot what Master Eraqus’ voice sounded like. Sometimes she forgot the feeling of the cool grass between her toes. 

 

There was no point in lamenting. She had to keep her eyes on the future; and if the best way she could manage just then was by talking about the stars, so be it. “Well, what did they look like? What were they called?” she asked.   
  
One of Oswald’s ears flopped forward as he scratched the back of his head; he seemed to be thinking even harder than Aqua had about it. “I, uh… don’t remember too many of ‘em.” His voice was almost sheepish. “Walt pointed ‘em out to me when I was new. Orion’s belt was easy to find, though - just three big stars in a straight line - and then you could find the body, the shield, and the sword. Ursa Major was easy to find, too. I think those were the only ones Walt really knew how to find, if I’m bein’ honest with ya.”   
  
Aqua’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Were there any stars arranged in the shape of a human…? All she could remember were the worlds that were sometimes visible, and the almost-perfect circle Terra had once pointed out. He had called it ‘Can of Worms.’ Next to it was a stray ‘worm’ in the stars that he had so kindly named after her.   
  
“He used to take me everywhere with him.” 

 

Oswald’s voice was quiet; she wasn’t quite sure she was meant to hear what he had said. “A lot’s changed since then, though. Sometimes I even wonder if the constellations are in different places now. I mean - not that I’m ever gonna really find out for myself.”   
  
Aqua felt like her heart had buckled. She turned to face him quickly, coming to a complete stop. This wasn’t something they could gloss over. This couldn’t be ignored. “Oswald, we  _ will _ get out of here,” she said, words sharper than she’d meant them to come out. She was edging all too close to panic. Of all the ways to part with Oswald, this just couldn’t be it. Not here - not like this.   
  
“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant!” Oswald blurted out, waving his hands wildly in front of himself. “I just mean I’m not returning to…  _ his _ world, when we escape. I’m never gonna see the real world again. Even if I could, Walt… Walt’s probably…,” Oswald shuffled a foot over the ground, picking at a seam in his jacket as his eyes drifted to a place Aqua couldn’t see. “... not there anymore.”   
  
“Oswald,” she started slowly, “you don’t have to talk about this if you aren’t ready to. And if you’re never ready, that’s alright, too. But… I don’t think I’m following.”   
  
He shrugged one shoulder as he started walking, not sparing him further acknowledgement. With a sigh, she trailed after him. Maybe talking about their pasts wouldn’t kill them as she feared - maybe it would keep them grounded, solidify their need to break free of the dark. And yet, she had a terrible feeling about what was to come.   
  
“It’s no big deal,” said Oswald conversationally. “It happened forever ago, it’s been old news for ages. Y’see, I’m a forgotten Toon. Walt created me back in 1927 - that’s when I got my first cartoon. But, uh, well… I guess things didn’t work out with me. Not on his end, anyway. Next thing ya know, he’s dropping me off at some other guy’s studio, telling me he’ll be right back, and... I never saw him again. I wasn’t his favorite Toon anymore; I was just a scrapped idea he outgrew. Didn’t take him long to replace me, either.” 

 

Oswald ended his explanation with a touch of fire to his voice, ears pressed to his head in fury. Aqua’s eyes darted along the dark horizon nervously, searching for any shadows that had caught wind of the emotion. The Heartless thrived on negativity - it was blood in the water to them. She wasn't looking for a frenzy.   
  
Oswald didn’t seem to notice her hesitance. “Once he made his first cartoon with the mouse, I was done for. Everybody was willin’ to move on and forget all about me; somebody else was fillin’ my shoes, and they liked him a whole lot more. So I ended up losing my heart.”   
  
Aqua turned her attention back to Oswald with a start. “But you aren’t a Heartless… right?”   
  
The rabbit shook his head with a thoughtful expression. “No, but I mean - well it works kinda different for Toons, I guess. In my world, losing your heart just... meant that people didn’t care enough; that they forgot you, or you weren’t important enough to ‘em anymore.” He hopped over a rock in his path easily. “So when Mouse got the stage and the spotlight for himself, people stopped caring. I wasn’t the star of the show, so they didn’t love me anymore.” He was remarkably calm for what he was saying - Aqua, on the other hand, felt as if she was hearing a tragedy. Who could ever forget their friend like that? Why would anyone abandon Oswald so cruelly?   
  
“So, a few years later, this wizard guy named Yen Sid made a world for all the forgotten Toons… I guess since I was the first one thrown in the trash can, I was made King of the Forgotten Toons. It wasn’t too bad, y’know? I had my family, friends, Toons who looked up to me - even though I didn’t have fans anymore.”   
  
“ _ Yen Sid? _ ” Aqua echoed incredulously. This wasn’t adding up - none of it was. If Oswald lost his heart, he would be a Heartless, or something close to one. Yen Sid had never spoken of him, and had never alluded to any powers he had that would allow him to create worlds out of thin air; as far as she knew, that was entirely impossible. And who was ‘the Mouse’? Did he mean King Mickey...?   
  
Oswald cocked his head. “Yeah. Blue robes, tall hat, weird beard, always looks too intense? Seriously?  _ That’s _ what you took from all of that?”   
  
Aqua ignored the knot coiling in her stomach as she shook her head. She knew he was telling the truth; but it just didn’t seem logical. “No, sorry. The name just sounded odd, I think.” She tried to ignore the nagging sense of unease. “What was your world like, anyway?”   
  
A bittersweet smile settled on Oswald’s face, and the faraway look returned to his eyes. “Pretty great. I mean, Yen Sid put down a good base, but me an’ the other Toons built a lot out of it: shops, rides, projector screens, villages, you name it. We had a lot to be proud of. I lived in a big castle overlooking Mean Street with Ortensia and our kids. I mean, they never stayed put for long, but - that’s just how kids are, ya know?” Aqua was reminded of Ven and his plans to explore the worlds. She wondered if those dreams would survive when he woke.   
  
Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t realize that Oswald had stopped walking until he spoke again, almost too quietly to hear.   
  
“And then that damn mouse took everything from me.”   
  
Aqua came back to the present as suddenly as a rubber band snapping, blinking in surprise. Oswald was a few yard behind her, staring at the ground with his fists clenched by his sides - and his eyes glossy with tears. She couldn’t tell if it was anger or despair, but she had a terrible feeling that it was both. There was something more to the story that he wasn’t sharing. As hesitant as she was to pry…   
  
“What… what did you say, Oswald?” she asked softly.   
  
Oswald lifted his head quickly, catching up in a few short hops. “Nothin’. Just… thinking about my kids. They’re probably tearing the town apart right now, the little criminals.” His laugh sounded hollow, and it echoed in Aqua’s mind like a wailing ghost.   
  


  
For the first time in far too long, Aqua felt some hope in her heart.   
  
For days on end, they had been running in circles. In the winding maze of the Lower Zone, it was all too easy to get turned around; there were a million identical passageways, a million dead ends, and terrifying enemies just around every bend. Without a clear indication of night and day, Aqua had no idea how long they had been trapped in the labyrinth - but by the time they had finally happened upon the exit, thrilled would have been an understatement for what she felt. Aqua would be happy if she never saw that maze again.   
  
Aqua stood with a careful stretch, ignoring the sting of her sore muscles and the cramp in her back. Battling in narrow passages had never been her forte; all the more reason to leave, she supposed. Yawning against the back of her hand, Aqua peered around the wall at the stretch of land awaiting them beyond the maze. If they were anywhere else, she would have imagined the sun cresting the horizon, the morning light a beacon to guide them. As it was, all that awaited was a sea of shadows and ink, twining together in the distance like coiling snakes. Aqua decided not to think about it.   
  
“I don’t see anything outside,” Aqua said, scanning the jagged cliffs that walled in the road ahead. “We should get moving before that changes.” 

 

No response came. Curious, Aqua turned to Oswald.   
  
He was sitting against the wall behind her, one hand on the ground, and the other close to his chest. His head was down, and his ears had fallen forward like wilted sunflowers; if she couldn’t see his eyes from where she stood, she would have assumed he was still asleep. Aqua sighed softly, turning her back to the exit. They both had their fair share of rough mornings; she was more than understanding of his failure to reply. Maybe he had had a nightmare - maybe he simply wasn’t awake quite yet. Still, they had to move. Idleness meant vulnerability.   
  
She was careful of her tone (which Terra would fondly call her ‘Mama Duck voice’) as she spoke again. “Oswald, we need to go; it might not be long before something finds us here.” Something in his expression soured for a moment. He didn’t move from where he sat.   
  
“I’ll catch up.”   
  
Aqua’s mind momentarily blanked. There was no reason for him to stay behind - and certainly no reason for her to allow him to hang back on his own. There was safety in numbers, and security in teamwork. Even if she had survived on her own before meeting him, she didn’t want to go back to that loneliness ever again; not even for an hour.   
  
“We can wait for a little, if you aren’t feeling well,” she answered, crouching on one knee by the exit. “We’ll just have to keep an eye out for any Heartless.”   
  
Oswald remained motionless and silent. 

 

Aqua felt worry gnawing at her heart; but she was unsure how to be ask again if he was alright without pushing him too far. Oswald hated being alone just as much as Aqua. Most days, the moment she was up and moving when they woke, he was right behind her; if she jokingly got a head start on him, he’d run to catch up. She tried not to overthink what he’d said, but… he’d been acting off for the last week or so - if she was keeping track of time correctly, anyway - and she didn’t want to let him wander down a dark path on his own, even if it was only in his mind.   
  
Aqua took a deep, slow breath to refocus herself. It would be alright. Everything was okay. They had promised to get through this together, and they still would. He just needed a bit of time to rest, and they would be back to his usual self again. Aqua folded her legs under herself, watching the darkness above moving like oil over water, and did her best not to look over her shoulder in paranoia every few minutes. Restlessness wouldn’t help either of them.   
  
Oswald’s fist clenched close to his heart - and try as she might to give him his space, that was a red flag she couldn’t turn a blind eye on.   
  
“Oswald? Are you okay?”   
  
His arms pressed closer to his body like a snake set to strike. His eyes stayed firmly on his feet, but they seemed set somewhere even farther down.   
  
“What do  _ you _ care?”   
  
Aqua felt like the world had suddenly turned them on their heads. Her mouth opened, but no words took shape; she was too shocked to think of a response. What the hell was he talking about? Was the darkness taking hold of him? Aqua felt her fingers itching for her Keyblade at the mere thought, and she pinched herself harshly. Was the darkness taking hold of them  _ both? _ _   
_   
She swallowed the cottony dryness in her throat, hoping it would help her in finding her words again. “Why wouldn’t I care? You’re my  _ friend _ , Oswald!” Try as she might, her voice didn’t hold as firm as she would have liked.

  
“Because you shouldn’t,” Oswald growled, his voice cold in a way she had never imagined him capable of being. Something terrible was welling up in Aqua’s chest; she was too afraid of what was happening to Oswald to worry about any Heartless catching wind of her negative emotions. She was torn between panic and something just a touch too close to anger for her to fully understand.   
  
“Yes, I  _ should _ \- and I do! That isn’t going to change! Where’s this coming from?” Aqua demanded.   
  
“I’m slowin’ you down! I’m nothin’ but dead weight, just like always! You’re better off ditching me!”   
  
The words echoed through the maze like a clap of thunder. Aqua wasn’t sure that she was breathing. For all the anger in his voice, Oswald didn’t look the part. He was on the verge of a breakdown; but whether the scale would tip towards hysteria or fury, she wasn't yet sure.   
  
Aqua chose her words carefully. She didn’t want to make this worse, but anything she said at this point seemed risky. One slip up, and she could lose him. If he ran back into the maze, she might never see him again; and as much as she hated the idea, she couldn’t stop him if he left. She couldn’t force him to carry on. Just like before, she had no real control over whether or not her friend chose to listen to her, whether they stayed or went. The thought sat like a lead weight on her chest.   
  
“I promised you - and myself - that we would leave together, Oswald. We’re going to make it home; you know that. It’s gonna be o--”   
  
“No, I  _ won’t _ ,” he cut in.   
  
She was no longer sure if it was simply an emotion coming over him, or if the darkness was tugging him away from her, a rip tide in the still water. She put as much weight in her words as she could manage, yet her voice still came out weak. “Yes, you will -  _ we _ will! We’ll get home, we just need to believe in ourselves and keep fighting! It might take time, but we’ll get there! I…”   
  
A tear dripped off of Oswald’s nose.   
  
His shoulders were trembling as he forced out a humorless laugh, drawing into himself as if he planned on disappearing into thin air. “You don’t  _ get it _ , Aqua. There’s nothin’ left out there for me.” He paused, trying to swallow his tears. “There’s no home to go back to anymore.”   
  
Not for the first time in her life, there was absolutely nothing that Aqua could say or do to mend the situation. What words could comfort someone who had lost their entire world? What could she say to inspire him to keep moving forward when there was no clear victory at the end of the road? 

 

All this time, he'd marched along beside her, knowing full and well that nothing waited for him on the other side of the darkness. Her head was spinning.   
  
“That - that stupid monster the mouse let in... it took  _ everything _ . It’s all gone, and there’s no gettin’ it back.” He tried to mask his words with anger, but a sob cut him short. Aqua reached a hand towards him; she wasn’t sure what to do aside from pull him closer until the storm had passed. Oswald drew back from her touch like she meant him harm, turning his head away sharply. His words were pouring out like water from a broken dam. There was no stopping them until they ran dry.   
  
“Thinner started flooding the world before we even saw it coming. It was like a tsunami. One second, everything was fine, and the next, it was… it was all gone. It ate up everything in its path. A lot of the Toons didn’t make it out, and neither did the world itself. It was washin’ away everything it touched. But it - it all stopped just short of Mean Street, like it hit some sort of invisible wall. Everyone thought that was the end of it. There was so much screaming, and… they wanted me to save them. I didn’t - I didn’t know how,” he sobbed. “The whole world was falling apart. How’s a dumb rabbit like me supposed to fix that?   
  
“I thought that… that Mean Street was safe. The Thinner wasn’t gettin’ in. Then it - the Blot came up out of the ravine and started crushin’ Toons like they were ants. It was bigger than a Darkside. I couldn’t fight somethin’ like that, no one could have, but everyone expected me to, a-and I couldn’t let them down again! But it… it went right by me. It didn’t care what I was doing, even when I set off fireworks in its face. And it - it grabbed Ortensia. I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.”   
  
Aqua felt the cold chill of sorrow gripping her throat. “Oswald,” she said, her voice shaky with tears of her own. “You didn’t… it wasn’t your fault.”   
  
He took a sharp breath, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe a word she said; or didn't want to. “If I was - if I was stronger, I could have saved her. It killed her right in front of me, and the kids… Oh, god, our  _ kids _ ,” he wailed, his grief taking a fever-pitch. “They tried to get her back. They weren’t listenin’ to me, it - it crushed every last one of ‘em, and I wasn’t fast enough to save them! It just - it didn’t stop, I couldn’t get a single one out from under its feet, and… And when the Blot finally grabbed me, I  _ begged _ it to kill me, Aqua! I wish it would’ve done it when it had the chance!”   
  
Aqua felt something sharp as a knife digging into her chest, a sob breaking free before she could stop it. She didn’t register that she had moved until she was hugging Oswald, arms wrapped tight around him as he cried against her shoulder, clutching the back of her shirt like it was all that kept him tied to the world. She’d been heartbroken before; she had lost so much… but not like this. Ven could wake up. Terra could still return… 

 

But Oswald could never recover any of what was lost. That wasn’t how it worked in his world.   
  
“I don’t - I don’t want to be here anymore, Aqua,” he whimpered, voice muffled.   
  
Aqua could hardly focus on the tears running down her cheeks anymore. She knew what he meant by those words- she had felt just the same in the past. Aqua pressed her forehead to the top of Oswald’s head, holding him close as she could. “Don’t say that, Oswald.  _ Please _ don’t say that, I can’t lose you. I can’t let you go!”   
  
Oswald choked on his words, his ears flattening against his head. “There’s no reason for me to stick around anymore.” For all the tears, his words were resolute. “I don’t… I don’t have anything left. Everybody I love is gone. Why should I have to be here when they aren’t?”   
  
Aqua tried to push down the knot in her throat, the cries that she felt surfacing; she needed to be strong right now. She needed to pull herself together so she could save Oswald from this. His words repeated in her head on a loop, and so did someone else’s. 

_ I’m asking you as a friend. Just… put an end to me.  _

“Because - because you can come live with us,” Aqua just barely managed.   
  
Saying it stung in her throat like swallowing poison. As often as she told herself she would escape and find her friends again, she just couldn’t be sure anymore. She didn’t even know if she and Oswald would manage to escape. Everything was starting to feel so hopeless that the words felt like a lie.   
  
“Me, you, Ven, a-and Terra; we’ll all live together. You’d love them, I promise. I… I know it isn’t any consolation, but you could be a part of our family, if you wanted. Ven would love you, he’s such a goofball. Terra - he acts tough sometimes, but he’s a sweetheart, you’d get along. A-and we could travel to the other worlds, if we got bored. There’s so much out there still, Oswald, I don’t want you to give up all of that.”   
  
“You don’t need some throw-away Toon getting in your way,” Oswald said. “I’m not... important anymore, nobody needs me. I don’t want you to worry about me when you’ve got friends and a life to live.”   
  
“And you’re one of those friends.” There was a fierceness in her voice she hadn’t felt in a long time. The fierceness to save someone she loved when they were on the brink.  “You’re important to me. I can’t leave you here, Oswald. Nothing you say could ever convince me to leave you behind.”   
  
He didn’t have a rebuttal this time.   
  
Aqua felt as if she had lost him, even if he wasn’t letting go.   
  
An hour could have crawled by as they pulled themselves back together. Aqua knew her voice was going to be shot; her head felt heavy from crying, and her eyes were sore from shedding tears. If nothing else, at least Oswald had calmed down, as well. He was still sniffling, but Aqua would take that over what he had just gone through any day of the year.   
  
Oswald finally lifted his head, meeting her eyes hesitantly. Miserable and crestfallen as he looked, she saw a little bit of life back in his gaze. It was damaged, and it was distant, but it was still there. He was still willing to fight. She shook her head as soon as he opened his mouth to apologize; there was nothing for him to apologize for, as far as she was concerned. Aqua gave a watery smile as she kissed the top of Oswald’s head, pulling herself back to her feet.   
  
“Let’s go home.”

**Author's Note:**

> u can tell he's my favorite because he's suffering lmao
> 
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated! Thank you so much for reading!


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